Mr. Sebastian and The Negro Magician

Just finished reading an early copy of the Daniel Wallace book called "Mr. Sebastian and The Negro Magician." Fans of "Big Fish" will appreciate its return to magical realism. I did not intend to finish the whole thing in a day and a half but I could not put it down. I found the story itself to be the star and myself really wanting to see what happens next. It will make a great summer read when it comes out in July! Not revealing any particular details but suffice it to say any book that has magic, the devil, a dash of bone-crushing American history, and a bit of true love is worth our time.

dB's at the Cats Cradle

Yes it sounds like a headline you would have read in the Spectator 3 times a year in 1982, but its 2007, and yeah it's been that long since they played here. The recently reformed dB's put on a show of wide ranging material in front of a packed house saturday in Carrboro. The audience and the event itself came very close to outshining the actual show. Folks like Robert Kirkland, Mike Connell, Terry McInturff, Mitch Easter, Kitty Moses and many many others turned up. So many in fact, you could not turn around without seeing someone who had some context for the NC music scene. There were people at the show who had not been in North Carolina in a decade who had come home to see the godfathers of NC pop one more time. All these familiar faces in the same old places turned back the clocks for one night.

On to the bands! The Mayflies USA opened up the show with their one-night-only reformed status. They clearly had to knock some rust off but got it going in time to have their single "Walking in a Straight Line" sound great. As for the dB's they came on around 10:45 and cranked it up with the opening guitar salvo from "Black and White." Suffering from a poor house mix it took about 4 songs for the band to sound like they were clicking at all. Particularly great songs that night included: "Molly Says", "Living a Lie", "Lonely is as Lonely Does", "Ask for Jill", and of course "Amplifier." By the time of the encores the band really was sounding great and like they could have played another hour and we all wish they had. Now for the mitigating factors... The house mix was never really satisfying or very clear. Solos never turned up etc.. The other issue was tempo which at times was way under where it felt like it should have been. In spite of all that it was still a "had to be there" NC rock history moment.

A Warm Winter Day, A Good Walk

Spent last saturday showing Andrej Cibej around my hometown of Hillsborough. You can read his account of it here. I am impressed how much of our discussion that day went into the post. I am looking forward to going to Slovenia and getting a tour of his hometown someday.

Glenn Tilbrook Redux

I've just finished watching Amy Pickard's documentary on Glenn titled 'One for the Road.' At times a bit more Amy-centric then I felt it needed it to be, but all in all a nice look at a very talented, funny, and geniunely happy guy. It's fun to watch Glenn's antics as he revels in his new RV and tries his hand at acting like an American among other things. Tilbrook had said at the Raleigh gig in mid-January that ex-songwriting partner Chris Difford was easy to spot because he dressed and acted like Mr. Rogers. In watching the bonus material for this DVD I see that nothing could be more true. Sporting a v-neck sweater and a pink button-down shirt Difford could not be more different from Glenn if he tried. It makes it even more obvious why Glenn's animation and pure energy and Diffords weightiness worked so well together. Not a technical wonder in any sense, the documentary is a real behind the scenes look at a man connecting with his audience. On stage or off Glenn is fun to watch.

The Judgement of Paris

Is the book I'm reading this week. Its a lengthy exploration of the conditions that led up to the Salon de Refusees and the birth of Impressionism. Focused around the career of the painter Manet, Ross King expertly handles the details of history, personalities, and events in an eminently interesting and readable fashion. I really think he is the best current popular writer about the arts.

Glenn Tilbrook at the Pour House

One half of the songwriting team of Difford and Tilbrook from the group Squeeze, Glenn Tilbrook helped pen some of the most recognizable hits of the '80s like 'Pulling Mussels (From the Shell), 'Another Nail in My Heart 'and 'Tempted.' He did all of those and more on Tuesday this week at the Pour House in Raleigh.
Interspersing Squeeze hits with solo material and guitar god classics like Jimi Hedrix's 'Voodoo Chile,' Tilbrook was ever the congenial host making sure we all had drinks and smiles contantly. Great to finally
figure out the lyrics to 'Pulling Mussels' by hearing them first hand. A bit of hilarity ensued during the encore when he asked women from the audience to dance to the Tom Jones hit 'Its Not Unusual' and form 'The Glenn Tilbrook Experience'. A great guitar player, a good singer, good songwriter and a good time. Don't miss him.

Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men"

Went to see Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men" on Friday and was literally on the edge of my seat. Having both helped written and directed this movie, Alfonso Cuarón has made a movie that feels at times like a documentary of the future. Ending with a spectacular 17 minute tracking shot the camerawork is notable. The film is a blend of hand-held documentary style combined with well constructed set pieces. Though dystopian in tone the humanity of some of the characters and the outcome of the final frames leave you hopeful. Clive Owen and Michael Caine are invaluable to making this movie work.